Thanks for your feedback. For precision commercial cutting I too don't rely on comskip or any other tool to do the job and prefer to do it manually (I do have cases when I don't really care about precision cuts when I am generating files for my Portable Video Player from a news recording). It is still useful to run comskip as a starting point and import that into a manual editor from which changes can be made.

I found that ComSkip worked perfectly, assuming that what I actually wanted was information on hair loss. I reviewed the notes for tweaking ComSkip, but concluded that I could edit all the programs manually faster than get it set up to work most of the time. So that raises the question of manual editing: is there a freeware program available for video editing? I downloaded the trials of Womble and VideoRedo but they seem like overkill and a lot more than I want to spend to solve a not very important problem in my life. I looked at Window's movie maker, but... ugh! Nero's program doesn't seem interested in just cutting - it wants to make a whole new video.

Quote:

Originally Posted by moyekj

So, based on good feedback I am seeing here I think what is needed to make kmttg friendlier to that kind of flow is:
1/ Make the download step optional (as all other steps already are)
2/ Add an option (to File pulldown menu) to start processing from existing files instead of just from a Now Playing List. This way, for example, you can use your own .TiVo file names generated from other programs instead of adhering to kmttg names. Or if you already have have an unencrypted .mpg file with or without commercials, start from there. i.e. Allow the entry point to kmttg to be at any phase you want, which will also allow you to use whatever file names you want as a starting point.

Yes, those options would do it for me. That and the automated downloads. When you get around to that one, if there is a way to select by other than title it would be great. Since Tivo's suggestions will frequently download reruns of shows that I have "first run only" season passes for, when Galleon is working (not much right now) it will download everything where I only want the first runs. Or the ones that aren't from the suggestion list, if there's a way to do that.

Still haven't gotten it into mp4 yet, but your end of the operation is working. I just have to figure out the syntax. And then get it working on the Mac.

FYI. I am working on a new version which is getting close to release (it's tested on a linux box but I need to test using Windows).
In this new version there is an option to start processing from existing .TiVo or .mpg/.mpeg files anywhere on your computer instead of only Tivo Now Playing Lists. With this capability added this makes every step optional in the flow including download. I'm also going to convert the installation and useage instructions to HTML format to make it much easier to read.

Okay, the anticipation is killing me! While I wait, is there a reference for the naming convention? I found the hard code in kttmg.pl, but I couldn't do much with it. For example, where are the underscores added in place of spaces? Is there a setting for the date format? Can I include the station it was recorded from (as Galleon does, when it dains to record something).

Also, does it save metadata (original record date, guests, etc) with the file? Currently, I use the web based method (so I don't have to buy Toast), but it defaults to only the show name.. then I run tivodecode on it.

Also, does it save metadata (original record date, guests, etc) with the file? Currently, I use the web based method (so I don't have to buy Toast), but it defaults to only the show name.. then I run tivodecode on it.

It already runs on Linux and I'm in the process of compiling detailed notes on how to get the 3rd party apps being used to built on Linux. I would imagine that getting it to work on Mac OS X should be possible if it's possible on Linux. However, I don't have a Mac to test with so somebody else perhaps can do the honors? I'd say wait for my notes on Linux installation and we can go from there.

As far as metadata right now I do parse all that data when reading the Now Playing Lists from the Tivo but I am not doing anything with them. It should be simple to write a file (perhaps in xml format) alongside the .TiVo file that contains all the information though as all the information is readily available. I will have to add this to my To Do List.

Okay, the anticipation is killing me! While I wait, is there a reference for the naming convention? I found the hard code in kttmg.pl, but I couldn't do much with it. For example, where are the underscores added in place of spaces? Is there a setting for the date format? Can I include the station it was recorded from (as Galleon does, when it dains to record something).

Thanks,
Anthony

As mentioned in my previous post all the extra information that goes along with the show including channel name, description, actors, etc. is all parsed already but I'm not doing anything with that data right now.

The buildTivoFileName function is the one building the file names in kmttg.pl and as you will see it strips out some special characters and substitutes spaces for underscores, etc. If you want to change file names that is the function to play around with. I do have plans in a future release to allow the name to be user customized but it's kind of low on my priority list right now.
You should be careful using the current release about leaving spaces in there, however, as it probably won't work right. In the new release I am working on I have quotes around all file names so it will be safe to have spaces in file names.

Kevin,
Okay, I'm having fun with the file naming convention. Hopefully I'll figure it all out by the time you release the version making everything I'm doing obsolete! I tested it with spaces and the process worked (I'm just downloading and decrypting) but the decrytped version crashes Nero Showtime and itunes but works in WMP. So that's a problem! Work better pick up for me soon - I have too much time on my hands!

One other thing for you to take a look at - better handling of errors when there are other transfers taking place. A couple of times I've gotten an error that says:

Can't figure out what other transfers are in progress, but it would be nice if the program waited and retried rather than aborting.

Anthony

Yes I've seen that error before. It seems to happen if you try and download a show from the Tivo shortly after retrieving Now Playing List from the Tivo or if you try and download one show right after another. Previously I had a "--retry 3" option on curl to automatically try again on failure which I removed since my Linux curl didn't have this option. I will add it back in for Windows platform at least which probably solves the problem there.

Could the program be used to automatically get show from the TiVo, remove commercials and send the show back to the TiVo (sans spots)?

Thanks...Brad

I'm not sure if there is a publicly documented way to push shows to a Tivo automatically, historically that has always been a pull (where you request from the Tivo). With the new Tivo Desktop release it seems like there is something along those lines where you can have it push shows from your PC to your Tivos automatically, but I haven't really looked into it and don't know if that functionality is publicly understood.

OK, kmttg v0.2a is now released.
ENHANCEMENTS:
* All configuration can now be done via the GUI. config.pl file no longer used - replaced with simple config.ini which is automatically saved via GUI.

* Added capability to start from files already on your computer instead of being forced to select a show from a Now Playing List. This makes all steps optional including downloads.

* Added capability to mark default Tivo to use on program start with a leading '*' character

* Changed text area type such that contents can now be selected and copy/pasted.

* Additional error checking added

* Documentation extensively improved and converted to HTML format

NOTE: Because of the new graphical configuration your old configuration in the config.pl file is no longer used. Configuration is now done via the GUI so the first time you run the program you will need to go to File->Configure... and re-enter your MAK and Tivo information and any other settings you desire such as enabling file browsing.

NOTE: In documentation I included more details on downloading and compiling 3rd party tools for Linux platform. If someone wants to try and get it working on a Mac I'd be willing to help and then I can include instructions for getting things working on a Mac.

OK, kmttg v0.2a is now released.
ENHANCEMENTS:
* All configuration can now be done via the GUI. config.pl file no longer used - replaced with simple config.ini which is automatically saved via GUI.

Thanks for a super program that is just getting started! I'm amazed at the quality for such a rapid development. I easily followed your documentation and got things to work quickly thanks to your error reporting too.

One thing, in the IP Config yours defaults to https <-- the "S" caused mine to not work, so I had to edit the INI file to take that out. Maybe that's a minor fix that needs to be done???

Quote:

Originally Posted by moyekj

* Added capability to start from files already on your computer instead of being forced to select a show from a Now Playing List. This makes all steps optional including downloads.

* Added capability to mark default Tivo to use on program start with a leading '*' character

* Changed text area type such that contents can now be selected and copy/pasted.

* Additional error checking added

* Documentation extensively improved and converted to HTML format

Excellent job! I had just downloaded the tivodecode, but I'm not an experienced programmer & wasn't looking forward to figuring it out by a lot of guesswork. You did a super job with the GUI.

Stay inspired to keep going, because you have the skills to offer a lot.

I'm playing with it now. Nice GUI - makes the config easier, but it returned some error messages as it ran. First time I re-entered all, second time I ignored the errors and it all seems fine. Thanks for the feature to select files already on the drive - makes life easier.

I'm willing and wanting to try to get this going on the Mac, but my first attempts makes it look like there's no Perl on the machine, and it's supposed to be installed by default. So I installed the Mac version of Active Perl but still no joy. If I can't get that working I don't think I'll get too far!

One thing, in the IP Config yours defaults to https <-- the "S" caused mine to not work, so I had to edit the INI file to take that out. Maybe that's a minor fix that needs to be done???

Thanks for the feedback. Can you explain this more? I don't understand the problem? There is no "https" to be entered anywhere in the config. You enter a Tivo Name which is anything you want, and a LAN IP such as 192.168.1.101.
The only time "https" is used is for obtaining Now Playing List. Are you saying you had to edit kmttg.pl to change that?
Thanks.

Well that version didn't last long. Sorry guys, there was a problem with comskip & mencoder settings not being read from config.ini file (shows how little I use comskip!). This has been fixed and kmttg 0.2b is now released at the web site.

Thanks for the feedback. Can you explain this more? I don't understand the problem? There is no "https" to be entered anywhere in the config. You enter a Tivo Name which is anything you want, and a LAN IP such as 192.168.1.101.
The only time "https" is used is for obtaining Now Playing List. Are you saying you had to edit kmttg.pl to change that?

No, sorry I was not clear with my explanation. The first few times the program would not work. On the error notes I saw the https with my IP address. So, I entered the http://with my IP. That http then appeared with the https on the same line in the "error report", so I went in the Config.ini to remove my http. After doing this the program began working, so I don't know really why it wasn't working & then started working. I thought it might be that it was requesting my IP with the https, when it really needed the http with my IP to work.

Whatever ???, after changing maybe nothing it began to work, when it would not connect to download before.

Feature Idea... Is it possible to have an option to move files from the tivo, rather than just copy from it leaving the original on the tivo too? A new move option could then free up space on the tivo automatically without having to manually erase each file that was copied off it.

Feature Idea... Is it possible to have an option to move files from the tivo, rather than just copy from it leaving the original on the tivo too? A new move option could then free up space on the tivo automatically without having to manually erase each file that was copied off it.

I only wish there was an interface to delete files from Tivo via ethernet, but there is no such thing. ReplayTVs had such a feature but AFAIK with unhacked Tivos this is not possible.

OK, this perl/tk script seems to work great.
Can there be an option to block the console windows that pop up?
The Status info should suffice (so that you know it is still running).
Thanks a bundle for the app!

OK, this perl/tk script seems to work great.
Can there be an option to block the console windows that pop up?
The Status info should suffice (so that you know it is still running).
Thanks a bundle for the app!

It's in the documentation how to do it. For Windows you can setup a shortcut that executes "wperl <path>\kmttg.pl" (substitute <path> with the path where you installed the program). wperl will not bring up a console window.

OK, version 0.2c is now released.
ENHANCEMENTS:
* Added a "File Naming" configuration option which allows you to customize how file names look for downloaded shows. Consult the documentation for more information on this.

BUG FIX:
* Fixed problem where kmttg would not work with spaces present in path names.

Thanks for the feedback. Can you explain this more? I don't understand the problem? There is no "https" to be entered anywhere in the config. You enter a Tivo Name which is anything you want, and a LAN IP such as 192.168.1.101.
The only time "https" is used is for obtaining Now Playing List. Are you saying you had to edit kmttg.pl to change that?
Thanks.

Could this have been caused by having the "TTG Server" loaded in the Windows tray? I think I used task manager to end the TTG, and then it released its network connection to the Tivo. It was late at night, and I didn't recall doing this till after I posted about this issue.

You might point out in your Docs to make sure the TTG is not loaded in the SysTray (network connected to Tivo) before trying to run your prog???

Could this have been caused by having the "TTG Server" loaded in the Windows tray? I think I used task manager to end the TTG, and then it released its network connection to the Tivo. It was late at night, and I didn't recall doing this till after I posted about this issue.

You might point out in your Docs to make sure the TTG is not loaded in the SysTray (network connected to Tivo) before trying to run your prog???

Not sure if that's it. I actually do have Tivo Desktop running on my Windows system and it doesn't seem to interfere... Since I added the "--retry 3" option are you still getting failures on occasion?

Version 0.2d just released.
ENHANCEMENTS:
* Added detailed show info in message area when a show is selected: Exact time of recording, channel number and name, duration, description.
* Applied html unicode conversions for text so that special characters now display properly

I am using that exact shortcut (WPERL). It (kmttg) does not open a console window, just the programs that are called (like curl, tivodecode, mencoder, ffmpeg, etc).
I don't code in PERL, so I am no help.
Maybe something like this?http://community.activestate.com/faq...nsole-windows-
BEGIN
{
Win32::SetChildShowWindow(0)
if defined &Win32::SetChildShowWindow;
}

I'll try to duplicate the problem, and this time I'll document it hopefully accurately. I'll report back if I can give you some good info, or I see it again.

Btw, does anyone know how fast the network connection or data transfer rate can be with the Tivo? Is there a way to optimize this somehow?

I have heard that you can put both tivo receivers on channels you don't receive (so it won't be recording anything).
Also, I am sure a direct Ethernet connection (not going through wireless) will probably be faster. I have only been able to achieve a max of 900kb downloads though. Most average around 650kb though.
The encryption process is what is slowing it down.

When I was using the wireless connection for the Tivo it was so slow that transfers weren't happening. I've recently hardwired and the speeds I'm getting on transfers (according to Curl) average around 1950k. I'm using my Windows laptop to run the program and it's saving to a hard drive that's attached to a Mac Mini. The Mini and the laptop are both gigabit, but the Tivo is 10/100 so I don't think the gigabit would affect transfer rate.